Raising Hotaru
by Kyralih
Summary: A collection of short stories about the outer scouts lives as Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna raise Hotaru as their own. 1. Makin' Bacon - Haruka attempts to make dinner for Michiru and Setsuna. 2. Babysitting is Hard Work - Haruka loses Hotaru! Oh no!
1. Makin' Bacon

_Makin' Bacon_

She was ready. The stove was on high, a pan was heating on it, the bacon was out on the counter and she was armed with a pair of tongs. She pulled out a knife and sliced open the package of bacon. "How much should I make?" she called, her voice echoing off of the cabinets.

"Umm, the whole package, probably. Setsuna should be back soon," Michiru answered from the other room.

Right. Okay. She cut the stack of bacon in two to create sandwich-sized pieces, then peeled a quarter of the stack up. It was cool and sticky – not entirely pleasant. She peeled a slice of bacon off of the stack and carefully laid it in the pan. She laid another five, until the pan was pretty well covered, and stood back as the grease flew. … Something was off. They shriveled up awfully quickly – when Setsuna made bacon the pieces were much longer than that...

"Ne, Michiru?" she called again, "what setting is bacon supposed to be cooked on?"

"Medium," she responded.

Well that'd do it. Grimacing, Haruka reset the dial and flipped the bacon over. As they cooked she pulled out a plate, layered it with paper towels and placed it beside the stove to await the finished pieces. She picked up the tongs again, considering the small slices of meat. They looked done.

After plucking them off, she grabbed the second stack and tossed them into the pan. Grease really started to fly then. Wow, her eyebrow quirked, was making bacon always this messy? … Wait, wasn't she supposed to drain the pan before adding another more bacon to it? … no helping that now. This second batch shriveled almost as quickly as the first, ending up pretty much as small. Haruka shuffled the finished bacon around – great, they were incredibly crunchy. Makes this next batch promising… or would, if any of them liked crunchy bacon.

She had pulled the second batch off, drained the pan and thrown the next load on when Michiru entered the kitchen, her hair pulled back into a ponytail and the tiny Hotaru wrapped in a towel in her arms. The infant had been freshly changed and bathed, her short black hair still sticking wetly to her inquisitive face.

"How was your bath, Hotaru-chan?" Haruka asked sweetly. The pale child reached out and the Haruka offered her pinky finger for her to hold, the rest of her hand still coated in a fine layer of grease.

"She loved it – especially her new teddy-bear towel," Michiru replied, her smile full of warmth and pride as she looked down on the child fondly. Her eyes turned back to Haruka, "how is lunch for the adults coming, Haruka-papa?"

"Er," she glanced behind to see the bacon popping and hissing merrily, the spread of slightly-over-cooked mini baconlets sitting sadly beside them, "pretty good…"

"My, Haruka-papa! Did you forget the grease shield?" Michiru chided sweetly, deftly opening a lower cabinet with her foot. She bent and swiftly retrieved a metallic, meshed disk and placed it over the pan. Smiling down at the purple-eyed infant, Michiru chided, "Silly Haruka-papa!" Hotaru giggled merrily.

"Oh yeah…"

"Now, let's go get dressed, Hotaru-chan!" she continued in a sing-song voice and disappeared into the hallway.

The first time's the best time for mistakes, right? Haruka watched the bacon through the mesh, happy to see that _this_ bunch was keeping its shape. She pulled the shield off, flipped them, and replaced the metal ring. Dropping the tongs onto the counter, Haruka fished in the cabinet for bread, the drawer for a cutting knife, and the fridge for lettuce, tomatoes, and redwine vinegar. She arranged these on the island for an assembly line and went back to the stove. She grabbed the ring with her finger and jumped back.

"OW!" Hot. How dumb was she? Of course it's going to be hot!

"Are you okay?" Michiru called from somewhere in the house.

"Just fine!" she grabbed the tongs and pushed the wiring away, pulled the (much more attractive) bacon out of the pan, arranged it on the towel, drained the pan and almost jumped back again. The metal had only touched the grease-catch for a second or two, but it had completely melted the lip of the plastic container. "Oops!"

"Haruka?"

"Don't worry, everything's fine!" she called out again, returning the pan to the stove and layering out the last few slabs. She used the tongs to replace the shield, glaring at the deceptive device.

Finally, something she had practiced before. She grabbed a knife and cutting board and set to work breaking the bread, slicing tomatoes and portioning lettuce. In no time at all she had three plates prepared, everything ready but the meat. Feeling confident, she returned to the pan and knocked the shield out of the way with her tongs, flipped them all quickly and was replacing the shield when she noticed that one slice of bacon looked thicker than the other.

"No way." She slowly put the shield back on the range and used the tong to prod the thick piece; it twitched open – there were two pieces stuck together. No big deal, she would just pry them apart with the tongs… the piece flipped over completely. She readjusted and continued fighting with the pieces, trying to separate them, but finally ended with a giant slice of bacon that looked like a flayed butterfly. She laughed, "Siamese bacon twins," she announced to herself.

The bacon finished cooking quickly and she carried the plate over to the island, her Siamese bacon to one side. Just as she finished packing the sandwiches and was closing each with a squirt of vinegar, Setsuna entered from the living room.

"It smells great in here," she complimented, placing groceries on the kitchen table.

"Setsuna, look!" Haruka called over, her Siamese bacon still sitting on the plate. The tall woman approached, her heels clicking on the tile floor, just as Michiru returned with Hotaru, now wearing a frilly purple dress with a matching lacey headband.

"Hello, sweety!" Setsuna greeted, tapping Hotaru's nose. Hotaru laughed. "Thank you for lunch, Haruka-papa," the green-haired scout thanked, claiming a plate.

"Look," the blond said mischievously, pointing at her mishap, "Siamese bacon twins!"

The two of them, Setsuna and Michiru, looked blankly back at her. Didn't they see it? She flipped it over, then back again. "Isn't it neat? I didn't completely separate the bacon and it just stuck together like that!"

"H-" Setsuna started to say, but then bent over laughing, holding the counter with one hand for support. "Haruka," she cried, trying to catch her breath, "you sound like Usagi-chan!" She kept laughing.

Michiru joined in, "She does!"

Hotaru, seeing her two 'mama's so happy, was soon giggling away with them.

Her eye twitched, not sure if she liked the insinuation of this comparison. They just kept laughing. Drumming her fingers on the countertop with one hand, she picked up her special piece with the other and took a big bite out of it, chewing slowly and enjoying the flavor as they slowly got a hold of themselves.

"Sorry, Haruka," Michiru apologized, reaching out one long-fingered hand towards her, "Can I have some of your Siamese bacon?"

She handed over the rest of it, picked up a plate and went into the dining/living room. Michiru followed her, commenting on how tasty the bacon was – playing it up, just a bit – and placed the baby Hotaru into her baby pen before disappearing into the kitchen to retrieve her plate.

Setsuna sat down beside her and waited for Michiru to return before she took a bite of her sandwich. … a very _crunchy_ bite. "Hawuhga~," Setsuna groaned, her mouth full. Each chew was accompanied by another _crunch_ that had little to do with the fresh lettuce.

Michiru looked sharply from Setsuna to Haruka, her hand hovering above her dish.

"Oh," Haruka announced, taking a bite from the center of her sub, "some of the bacon came out overcooked, so the left side of everyone's sandwich will be crunchier than the right." She closed her eyes to avoid their incredulous gazes and enjoyed the mingling taste of savory, sweet and tangy.

_Raising Hotaru, day three: _

_The day in which Michiru-mama and Setsuna-mama decided Haruka-papa would be in charge of making 'adult food' only as a last resort._


	2. Babysitting is Hard Work edited

_Babysitting is Hard Work_.

Haruka lay reclined on a couch in the living room, her feet hanging over the armrest and her head propped on a pillow, lazily watching a race. She was dressed loungishly in jeans and a button-up collared shirt, untucked for comfort. She flipped to another channel for a basketball game, not really paying much attention to anything. She was bored. She wanted to get out and race, but today was cleaning day so she had to stay in and 'help.'

"Well don't you look comfortable?" Speaking of work, in came Michiru, her hair pulled back into a ponytail and her sleeves rolled up past her elbows.

"I'd be more comfortable if you were here," Haruka replied, lifting her arm in an invitation for Michiru to join her.

The teal-haired woman smiled, "Hmm, I'd love to, but some of us are working." Haruka shrugged and dropped her arm. "By the way, just what was your job?"

"Watching Hotaru-chan," Haruka replied.

"Oh?" Michiru's eyebrow rose expectantly and she crossed her arms. Peering over the back of the couch, she peered down on the blond and queried, her voice flat, "Pray tell, where _is_ our dear Hotaru-chan?"

Haruka pointed to the baby pen with her foot, "over there."

One hand went to Michiru's hip, the other drummed her fingers on the top of the cushion. "Care to try again?"

A chill ran the length of Haruka like lightning, starting at her lower back and traveling to her extremities. She whipped her head up to see that, as Michiru had hinted, the soft, padded play pen was completely empty. What was Hotaru? She rolled up off the couch, jumping to her feet and ran over, just to make sure the toddler hadn't hidden behind one of the pillows. Not there. She picked up the pen to check behind it – nothing. She dashed to check behind the television, under the coffee table, behind the couch, under the dining room table, behind the plant in the corner – nothing.

"Haruka!" Michiru scolded heatedly, her mouth open to continue when Haruka interrupted.

"Can't talk now."

She dashed out of the living/dining room, pausing in the hallway. If she were a toddler, where would she go first? … to the room with the shiniest stuff. _The kitchen! She'll kill herself! _Haruka tore down the hallway, wondering if she had left the cutting knife out again. Was the stove on? WHAT IF SHE HAD GOTTEN UNDER THE SINK? She took a left to skid into the kitchen, and immediately fell flat on the floor.

"WHO POLISHED THE FLOOR?" she demanded, scrabbling to get to her feet. To check behind the counter. Was she there, the tiny, black-haired angel? Was she… had she… No! The black-and-white checkered floor was blissfully empty. No blood stains, no unconscious toddler. Just for good measure, Haruka tore open the sink cabinet. Nothing. Good.

So, not in the kitchen or the living room… the bathroom, maybe? She loved to drop stuff down the toilet – was she there? Haruka dashed back down the hallway to see the bathroom door open – was she there? Her hands pressed against the frame as the blond shoved her head in the room. Nothing and no one, but it smelled rather strongly of cleaning products. WHAT IF SHE SWALLOWED SOME CLEANING SOLUTION AND WAS PASSED OUT IN THE TUB? She ran in and threw the curtain open. Nothing. OR SHE COULD BE BEHIND THE DOOR! She shoved the door closed. Nothing behind the door.

Where else could she – surely not her own room. Haruka ran back down the hallway, Michiru saying something or other when she passed the living room, and looked into Hotaru's bright and cheerful room. She ran in and tore apart the neat stack of stuffed animals, where Hotaru occasionally liked to hide when playing. Not there. She looked under the bed, in the closet – nothing. Where was she?

… Could she have gotten outside? Haruka froze, considering the repercussions. Hotaru was just tall enough to reach the door, what if she just opened it? She could be out there, with rabid, wild dogs, speeding cars, thunderstorms – was it supposed to rain today? – and GUYS WITH CANDY VANS.

"HOTARU!" she screamed, running through the house towards the front door. She dashed outside to find sunshine, but rain wasn't the worst of the issues. "HOTARU? HOTARUUUU!" she yelled, looking left and right. The street looked empty, but kidnappers could have easily come and gone by now! Or a dog could've run through, picking her up and taking her away –

"Haruka-papa?" Setsuna said from the doorway.

Haruka turned, about to call her for help – they had to start searching. Hotaru could be anywhere! … or she could be right there with Setsuna. Haruka ran over, fell to her knees and scooped up the small girl. "Hotaru-chan!" she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Haruka-papa!" the toddler smiled, hugging her neck.

Haruka pulled her away, to look in her deep purple eyes, "Where did you go, little girl?"

Hotaru smiled.

"She helped me clean my office," Setsuna said with a smile, "Didn't you, sweetie?" she asked, ruffling Hotaru's hair.

Michiru appeared in the doorway, a sly smirk on her face.

"You knew the whole time." Haruka stated flatly. She picked up Hotaru, the little girl's hand wrapped tightly in her hair.

Michiru neither denied nor confirmed, but with the same smile on her face she went back into the house. She paused at Hotaru's room and glanced in. "Oh, Haruka-papa?"

"Yes, Michiru-mama?" she replied skeptically, following Setsuna inside.

"It seems both Hotaru-chan's room and the living room are a bit of a mess…"

She signed, "Yes, Michiru-mama, I'll clean it up."

_Raising Hotaru, day 40._

_The day in which Haruka-papa buys Hotaru-chan a bell to wear around her neck._


End file.
